


I Am Not River Song

by timeisdisintegrating



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-12
Updated: 2015-11-12
Packaged: 2018-05-01 06:10:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5195120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/timeisdisintegrating/pseuds/timeisdisintegrating
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The Doctor is missing his wife...</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Am Not River Song

**Author's Note:**

> This is one I wrote a while ago and just went back and edited. It takes place with Clara and Eleven before The Name of the Doctor (before Clara knows about River). Hope you like it!

Clara woke up suddenly to the noise of the T.A.R.D.I.S. dematerializing. It stopped as quickly as it had started and then her room’s lights started to blink on and off. Clara blinked groggily, she seemed to have dozed off on a couch in one of the many rooms of the T.A.R.D.I.S.  
  
“What is it?” asked Clara as she stood up, lightly patting the wall.  
  
In response, the room’s door opened. She stepped outside and followed the lighted path the T.A.R.D.I.S. provided for her - curious as to what the T.A.R.D.I.S. would possibly want _her_ for. As she walked down the hallway, the sound of the Doctor’s voice drew her attention.  
  
Quietly, she stopped at the door the T.A.R.D.I.S. indicated and peeked in, careful not to give away her position.  
  
The Doctor sat at a small round table in the middle of the kitchen, hands around an empty tea cup. A woman stood across from him dressed in a plain tank top and pants. Her curly hair was in wild disarray around her head.

The Doctor was simply staring at the woman, occasionally speaking to her in Gallifreyan. The woman, though, didn’t respond and continued to stand unmoving in the center of the room.  
  
Clara watched as the Doctor’s grasp tightened on his cup and his brow furrowed.  
  
“Come on, River,” he growled in English.  
  
The woman simply responded by stating in a monotone voice, “I am not River Song. I am a voice interface.”  
  
The Doctor stood up abruptly and hurled his cup through the hologram.  
  
“Damn it, River!” he yelled as the cup passed right through the image and shattered on the other end of the small kitchen. He stared at the broken remains of the cup for a few moments before sinking down to his knees at the woman’s feet.

Clara decided that it was time to intervene.  
  
“T.A.R.D.I.S., please turn off the interface.”  
  
The hologram disappeared, but the Doctor only responded by reaching a hand towards the now absent form of the woman.  
  
Clara walked briskly into the room and right up to the Doctor. He took no notice of her, continuing to stare at the empty space before him. She sighed and hauled the Doctor back onto his seat, crouching in front of him.  
  
“Who is she?” she asked, worried. She had never seen him like this before. He always seemed so put together, or at least – happy. She received no answer and tried again. “Who is River Song?”  
  
He reacted to the name but his eyes were still unfocused. It was a moment before he responded.  
“River Song is my wife,” he whispered.  
  
She smiled despite her concern. “You never told me you had a wife! I want to meet her!” Her attempt to make him feel better only seemed to darken his mood.  
He lifted his head and looked her dead in the eye, “You can’t.”  
  
“Why not?” Clara’s eye brows knitted together as she continued to stare at him. His sudden intensity had thrown her off guard.  
  
“Because she is gone, Clara.”  
  
His eyes became unfocused again and he broke eye contact with her. He looked around the small kitchen, running a hand through his floppy hair. She waited for him to continue. Eventually his gaze returned to her and he sighed.  
  
“She’s saved in a planet’s database core. A planet full of books, a giant library – the biggest, but it’s currently infested with Vashta Nerada.”  
  
Clara shook her head at the mention of an alien she had no knowledge of but motioned to him to continue.  
  
“I saved her, she’s technically alive. But she’s stuck,” his head drooped again. “I miss her Clara,” he mumbled.  
  
Clara stood up and tipped his chin up so he was forced to look up at her.  
  
“Quit moping around, chin boy,” she said firmly. There was some playfulness in her eyes but he seemed not to take the teasing well. Instead, his eyes hardened. “You have no idea what it is like,” he growled.  
  
She stopped him with a finger. “I have decided we will go save her. Right. Now.”  
  
The Doctor pulled his face away from her and stood up, batting her hand away.  
  
“It’s impossible,” he stated bitterly. “It’s been decades and I haven’t come up with a suitable, even plausible, solution.” His hands gestured frantically around him and she crossed her arms.  
  
When he finally stopped waving his hands around, she smiled at him. He detected a hint of mischievousness behind it and frowned but her grin only widened.  
  
“That’s because you hadn’t met me, yeah? Remember,” she poked him in the chest, “I’m cleverer than you are.”  
  
He made a pouty face at the challenging statement but he let her have it. Maybe she _could_ help him save River…


End file.
